Hate to Loose You
by Red Tigress
Summary: Oneshot. Mac is honest with Danny after a crime in which the suspects return to the scene.


"Why don't you go sweep the rest of the apartment." Danny couldn't believe it. The last time Mac had said that to him, he had been ambushed by some crazed lunatic, and was ultimately led through a situation which he never wanted to repeat, and usually tried not to think about too much. As he fought the hulking brute trying to cut off his air, he had to bite back a sarcastic laugh. Why should today be any different?

He had walked towards the living room of the apartment-Mac and the body remained in the kitchen. Once he had gotten there, he found it impossible to miss the creep trying to climb into the apartment through the window next to the fire escape. The guy looked up and his eyes met Danny's. Both stood frozen for a split second, before Danny's training kicked in. He drew his gun, but before he could lift it up to be parallel to the floor, he was grabbed from behind, and a much bigger hand than his own had clutched onto his wrist and twisted, making Danny grimace in pain and also drop the gun.

How could he have been so stupid? The guy must have been hiding behind a wall. If Danny had just thought to look around, he could have seen him, and avoided this situation completely. Although he was now weaponless, he was not powerless.

Danny used his arm that wasn't being constrained to elbow the guy in the nose. Hard. The blood began to flow freely, and the guy's grip eased up enough so that Danny could wriggle free.

By that time, two things had occurred. One, the other brute had gotten into the apartment to provide backup for his buddy. Two, Mac had heard the commotion and entered the room, gun drawn, only to be pistol-whipped (with Danny's gun, no less) by brute number one. He was down instantly.

Bloody Nose (as Danny had unconsciously named him) had recovered enough to wrap his arm, which was as thick as a tree trunk, around Danny's neck. Being about seven inches taller than the detective, he leaned back, forcing Danny off the ground and making him struggle for breath. Danny's hands shot to his arm, scratching and hitting, to try and force some of the pressure on his windpipe to release.

Bloody Nose shouted at Window Guy (also subconsciously named by Danny), "Drop the gun you idiot, you're going to get your prints all over it!" Window Guy dropped the gun, and began rubbing at it with his shirt, to get rid of any prints.

Danny figured Bloody Nose was distracted enough for him to take advantage of. He moved his right leg forward, and then back in one swift motion with all the strength he had left. His heel drove right into Bloody Nose's kneecap, making him yell in pain and simultaneously drop Danny.

The detective fell to his knees and sucked in deep lungfuls of air. His respite was short however as Window Guy realized what was going on and came over to give Danny a hard right cross to the face.

Danny fell sideways and hit the carpeted floor, spitting blood all over it. Danny didn't think the owner would mind, seeing how his body was on the kitchen floor with blood all over that too. Danny couldn't believe his sarcasm was kicking in now, just as Window Guy hoisted him up by his shirt to deliver a blow to his temple. Danny felt his glasses shatter as he fell backwards, and some of the glass cut into his eyebrow and forehead.

"Shit," he heard the guy mumble as he shook out his hand, presumably because of glass there too. "I always hated beating up nerds."

Danny would have laughed if not for the direness of the situation and the fact his windpipe had almost been crushed. He was having enough trouble breathing as it was. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his gun on the ground by a coffee table, and started to crawl towards. He knew it was futile, but he had to try. He couldn't stand, and his vision was swimming so much he probably couldn't have aimed. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about aiming as a kick from one of the thugs delivered him into darkness.

CSI: NY

Flack was getting exasperated. He and a few more uniforms had been waiting outside the building after clearing the crime scene for the CSIs. They had been out here almost two hours after finding out from all the neighbors they had heard nothing. The walls were too thick to here the sound of a guy being beaten to death, it seemed.

Flack had gone back up to the 4th floor about 30 minutes ago to find out how much more time the CSIs needed. They had been almost done, seeing as how from what they could see all the action had happened in the kitchen. Flack had swept the rest of the apartment himself and at the time nothing had seemed out of place. Flack started to hear some of the uniforms complain about how they were wasting time. He grabbed the nearest officer to him, just in case, and proceeded to make the trek back up to the 4th floor.

CSI: NY

Mac opened his eyes slowly, to try and allow his blurry vision time to focus. He had to squint at first, since the pounding in his head was not enjoying the idea of any light at the moment. While he was doing this, he tried to move his arms, only to them secured by a rope around a pipe. Eyes finally focused, he took note of his surroundings. He was in an unfinished closet of some kind, probably a pipe room for the maintenance of the building to use. He noticed Danny across from him, tied up in a similar fashion.

His left eye was swollen shut, and there was blood running down his face from somewhere on his left temple. He also had some dried blood running down his mouth. His breathing was shallow, and sounded almost like a wheeze. He still wasn't awake yet.

"Oh Danny," Mac said quietly. He probably wouldn't have ever told Danny this, but Mac felt responsible for the man, and every time he took a hit, emotionally or physically, Mac could feel it. If something happened to Danny, he could only imagine how the rest of the team would cope. Mac realized he couldn't protect Danny all the time. But he could get them out of here.

Mac started wriggling his wrists. The bonds weren't very tight, and Mac hoped if he could get them to give a little, he could be out of here. That was when the smell started to fill the closet.

Mac looked at the door of the room, smelling it, but not seeing it. Smoke. His heartbeat quickened.

"Danny!" He said. "Danny you have to wake up!" Mac continued to call the young detective's name as he struggled with his bonds. "Danny, if you don't wake up right now…"

Danny's breathing hitched, and he slowly raised his head to stare with his good eye at Mac. "I'm awake, I'm awake," he mumbled. But that was all he did.

Mac took notice of this. "Danny, there is a fire somewhere in the building. We have to get out now. Can you free yourself?"

Danny made some weak tugs on the rope, his breathing starting to increase as he realized he could now smell smoke. Nothing gave. "Mac, I…" he started with a slight note of panic to his voice.

"Calm down. I'm almost free." Mac could sense the detective was starting to loose it. What with the severe beating only to awaken tied up in a burning closet, he was surprised the young detective hadn't lost it already.

Mac finally loosened the rope enough so that he could pull one hand loose and using that untied his other hand. He then moved over to Danny who was pulling at his bonds and chafing his wrists in the process. "Danny, stay still. I'll have you free in a minute." This was one of the times Mac was thankful for his military training. It helped him keep a cool head. Not that Danny didn't have a cool head, but he was in no condition to think rationally at the moment, and for that Mac couldn't blame him.

Mac finished untying Danny's bonds and helped him to his feet. Danny was a little unsteady, so Mac draped one arm around his own shoulder to help him keep up right. He then kicked the door open and the duo stumbled out into the smoke-filled hallway.

CSI: NY

Flack started to smell smoke when he and the other officer reached the second landing. "Shit," he said. Knowing their luck, he figured the CSIs would probably be right in the middle of it. He turned to the other officer, who had a radio with him. "Tell them to call the fire department, and to have a bus ready," he said. The officer nodded and started to call it in. He didn't know what condition the CSIs would be in, but he figured they should have it just in case, or in case someone else in the building needed help. Right on cue, the fire alarm in the building went off at that point and the few people that occupied the building began running down the stairwell.

Flack finally made it to the 4th floor, and opened the door that led into the hallway. Immediately, he was assailed with a wall of smoke. Coughing, he called Mac's name. There was no answer. He took a few steps into the hall, and called again louder.

"Here!" he heard someone shout back. He saw two figures approach and as they got closer realized it was Mac supporting a near-unconscious Danny.

Flack took a few steps forward to Danny's other side in order to assist Mac in supporting his weight. "Holy hell, what happened to you guys?" he asked.

"Long story, but let's get out first." Mac answered. Flack couldn't argue with that, and they made their way downstairs as fast as they could. By that time, the fire department had arrived and was rushing up the stairs past them to put out the fire and also check for other people.

Once they got outside, the paramedics were already there with a gurney. They took Danny from the detectives and gently lowered him onto it. He was still conscious, but not really lucid, Flack noticed. Mac sat down heavily on the curb nearby, his energy spent. Flack walked over to him. "You want to ride with him?" he asked.

Mac looked back toward the ambulance. The paramedics were finishing up their initial examination of Danny, and were slipping an oxygen mask over his face. "Yeah," he said.

"What happened?" Flack asked him before Mac could move.

Mac sighed warily. "The suspects, at least I think they were the suspects, came in through the fire escape. Started a fight with Danny, knocked me out. Tied us up and left us in a closet to burn. Guess they wanted to get rid of some incriminating evidence, and they thought it'd be cleaner to kill us without guns. No ballistics to go through. "

Flack nodded. "You ok?" he asked.

Mac only answered "I will be." Before getting up and walking over to the ambulance. As soon as he was in, the paramedics shut the doors and raced off with the CSIs in tow.

An officer whom Flack had left outside came up to him. "Sir, we caught two guys comin down the fire escape just after you went in."

Flack turned to him. "You mean before the alarm went off? How do you know they weren't just escaping?"

"Because they were comin outta the 4th floor crime scene and also had blood over their hands."

"Good enough for me." Flack smirked and reached for his cell. Maybe something good would come out of this after all.

CSI: NY

Mac was seated in the waiting room in the hospital. He had made some calls earlier, and had asked Lindsey and Sheldon to process what they could from the scene and also to process the two suspects who Flack's men had caught. There probably wasn't much evidence to go on, but at least they could get Danny's blood of the guys' hands and maybe get some charges on the two, for that at least.

The doctor's had checked Mac's head out. Nothing serious. He'd have a painful lump for a few days, and maybe some headaches, but nothing worse than that. On the other hand, Danny at the very least would get stitches on his head and some bruises around his throat. They probably would have to treat him for smoke inhalation as well. When they were escaping out of the closet, Mac had quickly put his shirt over his nose and mouth, but he couldn't do the same for Danny, and had just tried to get him out as quickly as possible. The doctor's had assured Mac that Danny would be alright, but he would be sore for a few days. Mac was just glad he was alive.

That situation was very close to ending badly for both of them. Mac couldn't believe they had got the drop on him, but he figured it happened to everyone a few times. He knew he and his team would bring them down for at least assaulting an officer and attempted murder, if not for the murder they were already investigating in the apartment, provided the Sheldon and Lindsey could find enough left over evidence.

Mac looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. It was a nurse. "He's stable," she said. "You can go in for a few minutes, but try not to get him excited if he's awake. He needs to rest." Mac nodded, and the nurse showed him into Danny's room.

Mac looked over to the bed where Danny was. An IV had been inserted, and his left eyebrow was clean shaven, giving Mac a good view of the new stitches that extended up his forehead from the spot. Ugly, purple bruising had begun to appear around his face and throat. There were some bandages around his wrists from where the rope had cut them. He looked a wreck now, but Mac had confidence he would be back to his normal self in a week or so. Mac walked over to the chair next to his bed, and waited for him to wake up.

CSI: NY

Danny awoke to the sound of a gentle beeping. He tried to open his eyes, but the left one was still swollen shut, so he had to satisfy himself with his obscured vision. He noticed Mac sitting in the chair next to his bed.

"Hey," Mac said.

"Hey," Danny whispered back. His throat felt raw, and he gave a week cough. Mac handed him a cup full of water with a straw, and Danny took it gratefully. When he had had a few sips he said "You ok?"

Mac smiled. "Yeah, I'm ok. You're the one in the hospital. Are you ok?"

Danny thought for a moment. Instead of answering Mac's question, he said in a raspy voice "Mac, I'm sorry. I shoulda been quicker to get that guy. I shoulda…"

Mac cut him off. "Danny, it's not your fault. Those guys got the jump on me too, ok? There was nothing you could have done that you didn't do."

Danny turned away. He felt like he had let Mac down. Again.

"Danny," Mac sighed. "You're a good CSI. And a good man. I'd hate to loose you." Mac put his hand gently on the young detective's shoulder until Danny turned back and their eyes met. "I mean it. Now get some rest." Mac stood to leave.

As he got to the door, Danny whispered loudly, "Mac?"

The detective turned back to face him. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

FIN

So there you have it, folks. Please review if it please you. Suggestions welcome, as it's my first serious fic in about 4 years.I hope you enjoyed it!

-Red Tigress


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